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Letter from the Director

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. Pablo Picasso

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September 1st, 2023

Queridas Familias, 

I am very pleased to welcome you all to the 2023-2024 school year!  I would like to extend a special welcome to all of the new families who are just joining our ISLA community in kindergarten and other grades. We are very excited for the new school year, and we encourage all new parents to get involved, as ISLA depends on the dedication of our committed cadre of volunteers; indeed, it is one of the factors that makes our school community so strong, and is a hallmark of any successful school.  

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that after an extensive search, ISLA has contracted with two new additions to the team. Our new Dean of Students, Rachel Fuller, has hit the ground running and has already met many of you the past few nights at Meet the Teacher events.  She comes to ISLA with a strong mental health and social justice background, and is already making an impact.  We also welcome Danyelo Rivera, our new music teacher.  Sr. Rivera is from Chile, and has degrees in Music Education and Methodology, and 10 years of teaching experience.  Welcome to the team, Rachel and Danyelo! 

Once again this year, please remember the importance of reading with your child in your home language.  Please make it part of your nightly routine. As you know, when you read aloud to your child you help them develop vocabulary, phonics skills, decoding, and comprehension skills. This is important at any age---even for older children in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades--and even if they are already reading fluently.  Many parents tell me that they have more success having the child read to them--and switch back and forth. In fact, reading aloud at these ages helps develop vocabulary for when they have to read in other content areas, such as science and social studies. Developing a reading culture in your home will help foster skills which are essential to your child’s success. 

We are fortunate at ISLA to have such a great team of talented immersion educators who are dedicated to teaching within the International Baccalaureate curricular context, and to have such a committed community of parents and volunteers. Working together,  I am confident that the 2023-2024 school year will be better than ever.   I look forward to seeing you soon at upcoming school events. 

Atentamente,

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Jeremy Perrin
Executive Director

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Calendar of Events

• September 4 - Labor Day, No School
• September 5 - First day of School, grades 1-6
• September 5 - Yahoo/Boohoo event, right after drop off
• September 6 - First day of School, kindergarten
• September 6 - Yahoo/Boohoo event, right after drop off
• September 9 - Ice Cream Social, 2-4 pm, Burnes Park
• September 13 - PTO Community Meeting, 6:30 pm
• September 18 - Davanni's Restaurant Night, 4-8 pm, 5124 Gus Young Ln, Edina, MN 55436
• September 19 - ISLA Board Meeting, 6:30 pm
• September 21 - International Day of Peace
• September 25 - No School
• September 26 - Teacher Workshop, No School
• September 27 - Curriculum Night for Grades K, 2 and 4, 6:30 pm
• September 28 - Curriculum Night for Grades 1, 3, 5, and 6, 6:30 pm

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Spirit Store Open!

The Spirit Store is now open through Monday, September 11! Orders will be ready approximately 2-3 weeks after store closing and delivered to the students classroom. For expedited delivery, please indicate the student/teacher name in the order. (For families with multiple children only one name is necessary)

The order link is here: https://pogo.undergroundshirts.com/collections/isla-spirit-store-september-2023

The Spirit Store is provided by the ISLA Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) for families to purchase uniform approved shirts and sweatshirts and show their school spirit! The Spirit Store is a fundraiser for the PTO, and proceeds support PTO sponsored events such as the back to school picnic, provide funds for classroom supplies and field trips, and also supports the LA program.

Each grade level has an assigned color and all grades are allowed to wear black. While the shirts are not required, teachers like to have kids in their "Se Habla Español" shirts for field trips and students like to represent ISLA!

• Black - All School
• ISLA Sweatshirts (hooded and full zip) - All School
• Kinder - yellow
• 1st grade - blue
• 2nd grade - green
• 3rd grade - red
• 4th grade - orange
• 5th grade - purple
• 6th grade - white (for in classroom tie dye project)

New this year! We have partnered with a vendor that offers the option for classroom delivery  (no additional charge) or ship to home (shipping is calculated at checkout). Please be sure to add in your student’s name, grade, and teacher. Doing this helps our volunteers get the order quickly to the correct student.

Questions? Please contact spiritstore@isla.school

ROOM PARENTS NEEDED!

Sign up to be the room parent in your child's classroom this year! This is a wonderful way to become connected at ISLA and to help plan and coordinate all of the fun events throughout the school year!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45ADAA22A0FC1-room

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Happy September! We hope everyone has had an amazing summer!! But not to fret because there is lots of fun coming as we continue to celebrate this wonderful community and the start of the school year! It was great to see new & familiar faces at Meet the Teacher this past Wednesday & Thursday! Please note: There was a delay with the Supply Kits shipment and they weren’t available Wednesday evening at Meet the Teacher. Our Kinder students were able to grab them Thursday evening, but if you missed yours, it will be delivered to your child’s classroom before the first day of school!

***A HUGE THANK YOU to those that ordered the school supply kits. This is a fundraiser for the ISLA PTO as we work to continue to find ways to give back support to the school, and you helped raise OVER $2,000 with your purchase!!

• • •  Upcoming Events • • •  
Yahoo/Boohoo

After drop-off, near the school parking lot.
Grades 1–6: Tuesday 9/5

Kinder: Wednesday 9/6

Join other ISLA parents as we either celebrate (yahoo) or shed a tear (boohoo) over the kids starting school. We’ll be gathering near the back ISLA parking lot where drop-off occurs for coffee & snacks while we chat! If you’d like to help set-up & organize snacks for distribution, you can sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0D4FA4A62AA1FF2-yahooboohoo

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Back to school Ice Cream Social

Saturday 9/9 2-4pm @ Burnes Park in Hopkins
Please RSVP so we can provide enough ice cream for all!!

It’s time to celebrate the start of the school year! Join other ISLA families as we have some delicious ice cream treats and the kids can run around the playground. Please note, there is a splash pad that MAY be functioning (don’t want anyone to be surprised by the water)!
Click here to RSVP to the Ice Cream Social or scan the QR codes below!

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• • • Community PTO Meetings • • •  

Next meeting: 9/13 6:30-7:30pm @ ISLA playground & conference room
Please RSVP so we can plan dinner for everyone!

Our next community meeting will be the first of the official school year! Come enjoy dinner, meet other ISLA parents & caregivers while we share-out all things ISLA PTO for the upcoming year! If you have upper grade level kids that can help with childcare during meetings, that would be a huge help!! Follow the links or scan the QR codes below for further details:
PTO Community Meeting Attendance
PTO Community Meeting Childcare Volunteers

Link to PTO Community Meeting Slides

• • • Restaurant Nights • • •  

Thank you to all that came out to Panera in August! We raised $140.21 just by eating dinner there!! It may seem like a small blip to some, but every little bit counts and helps us towards the goal of helping support ISLA!! Here’s a list of our upcoming restaurant nights. And if you’ve got suggestions or connections of a place that might be interested in partnering with us, please reach out to PTOchair@isla.school!

Monday 9/18 4–8pm

Davanni’s
5124 Gus Young Ln, Edina, MN 55436

Saturday 10/7 8–10am

Applebee’s
8421 Joiner Way, Eden Prairie, MN 55344

*We need volunteers to serve for this event (14+) – Sign-up Genius to come soon, but please mark your calendars!!

Monday 11/13 5–9pm

Chevy’s
2251 Killebrew Dr, Bloomington, MN 55425

Wednesday 12/6 4–8pm

Noodles & Co.
8120 MN-7, St Louis Park, MN 55426

• • • More ways to get involved • • • ‍

‍Sign-up for Box Tops for Education!

Download the app on your phone and search for International Spanish Language Academy to begin benefiting your kids’ school! After setting up your account, you can send digital receipts via email or scan a hard copy in the app. No more ripping boxes up!!

Use any of the below referral links to give ISLA an extra bonus when you sign-up:

https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=CWLL52QA

https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=L0Y82RM7

https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=FCGQ9A6Y

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Teacher Wishlists!

Our wonderful teachers work so hard to make their classrooms welcoming and comfortable for our kids. This year, the PTO has asked that our teacher’s share a list of items they need to complete this huge task. Here are their lists, broken down by grade. Any item is a huge help for our teachers & is SO very appreciated by them AND your kids in their rooms. We are still awaiting a few lists, and will send out updated links when they are ready!

El Nido
Group wishlist for all of El Nido

Kinder
Doris Bonifacio Salas
‍Silvia Herrero-Fernandez
‍Maryann Najera
‍Luis Vivas

1st Grade
‍Bonyin King
‍Erika Leal Gil
‍Edily Sanchez

2nd Grade
‍Irene Martinez
‍Miriam Oropeza
‍Lina Pinto Perez

‍3rd Grade
‍Corene Adams
‍Rosa Fernandez
‍Patricia Floe

4th Grade
‍Riana Dilley
‍Roberto Izquierdo
‍Pilar Robles

5th Grade
‍Stewin Bernal
‍Jordi Costa

6th Grade
‍Rachel Karlov

‍Specialists
‍Exploración & Art: Adriana Maldonado
Exploración & Art: Ana Luisa Galleres (link to come)
Physical Education: Igor Diaz
Tech: Edgar Avendano (link to come)
Music: Danyelo Rivera

Special Education
‍Ruth Garcia (link to come)
‍Tatiana Gordillo
‍Thairys Rodriguez

Office
‍Emily Smith
Jessica Gielen
‍Nurse: Tanya Nelson (link to come)

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• • • Save the Date • • •  

When: Saturday, March 9th, 2024 6-11pm
‍Where: Bloomington Event Center

Fiesta de la Primavera is ISLA PTO’s biggest fundraiser & party of the year!! This is an adult-only event where we gather with our amazing community to celebrate the year together and raise funds to support our Language Ambassador Program. The LA Program is where we bring student teachers from native-spanish speaking countries to support our classrooms & teachers. It gives the students even more enrichment as the LA’s bring their cultural experiences and further immerse them in the Spanish language. Our first few LAs have begun arriving to meet their host families this week and be introduced to Minnesota and we’re so excited for this group!!

This year, we are encouraging Great Gatherings to be held anytime throughout the year… This will allow for more Fall & Winter fun before our actual Fiesta event in the Spring, but all the funds raised will still go back to the ISLA PTO to support the Language Ambassador Program and enrichment for our kids in the classrooms! So our donation forms are now OPEN!! We will get our Givesmart website launched in the coming weeks to allow purchasing tickets to upcoming Gatherings that are submitted!

Fiesta ‘24 Donation Form Links

Gift Basket Donations
‍Community/Parent Donations
Staff/LA Donations
*Info on business sponsorships will be coming soon!!

• • • More ways to help with Fiesta  • • •

Recommend potential donors/sponsors

Do you have a favorite restaurant, salon, birthday party spot or other locale? Send us the business name and we will reach out to see if they’d like to participate by donating to Fiesta!
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Volunteer one hour or volunteer for more!

We'd love to see the community get more involved in planning Fiesta. We have quite a few options/areas of interest to choose from. Click here to view our '23 Fiesta Committees and discover small & big ways to help plan this party & fundraiser!

Any friends own a local business?

Or maybe you want to get your own small business involved with this fundraiser? We’re sorting out details for sponsorships to help advertise your business(es) while contributing to the growth of the LA Program!! Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks, but you can always reach out to us (Jenner Moretto or Caitlin Edstrom) at Fiesta@isla.school with any questions!